Systems methods and computer program products for encoding and decoding transaction data

ABSTRACT

Tax data, e.g., Form W2 data, is encoded as a two-dimensional machine readable representation, such as a QR CODE. Certain tax data is encoded as segments of a QR CODE, and a tax form generated by an employer or payroll processing service and provided to an employee or user includes the QR CODE representing certain W-2 or other tax data. An image of the QR CODE is acquired using a camera of a mobile communication device or computer or other image capture device. When using a Smartphone, a tax preparation application executing on the Smartphone decodes the QR CODE image to determine the tax data, and populates fields of an electronic tax return with decoded data, thus allowing a consumer to prepare an electronic tax return using a mobile communication device.

BACKGROUND

Embodiments relate to personal finance, and more particularly, topreparation of electronic files such as tax returns and receiptsummaries utilizing a financial management system.

Financial management systems such as tax preparation applications orprograms including TURBO TAX and TAX CUT have become very popular andallow users to prepare and file a tax return using a computer. Otherfinancial management systems such as transaction or receipt managementor tracking applications or programs including QUICKRECEIPTS, QUICKEN,FINANCEWORKS and Mint.com have also become very popular and allow usersto enter, receive or import transaction or receipt data using a computerand view, categorize and manage receipt or transaction data and receiptor spending summaries. TURBO TAX, QUICKRECEIPTS, QUICKEN andFINANCEWORKS are registered trademarks of Intuit Inc., Mountain View,Calif., and further details regarding these products are provided inhttp://myquickreceipts.intuit.com, http://turbotax.intuit.com,http://mint.com, https://quicken.intuit.com, and U.S. application Ser.No. 12/609,922, filed Oct. 30, 2009, the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference as though set forth in full.

During use of a tax preparation application such as TURBO TAX, forexample, the tax preparation application presents tax questions or dataentry fields to the user as a series of interview pages or screens. Inresponse, the user enters appropriate data or answers, and when the taxreturn has been completed, the tax return in electronic form may beelectronically filed with a tax authority or printed and filed by mail.

For example, certain interview screens, fillable forms or questions mayrelate to personal and family matters such as the user's marital status,number of dependents, medical expenses, etc. Other interview screens,forms and questions may relate the user's finances as provided inForm-W2. As shown in FIG. 1A, Form W-2 10 includes various types of dataincluding an employee's social security number, employer identification,employer name and address, employee name and address, and Boxes 1-20 forfinancial data such as wages, federal income tax withheld, socialsecurity wages, social security tax withheld, Medicare wages, Medicaretax withheld, types of retirement plans and retirement plancontributions, and state wage and tax data. One manner of preparing atax return involves manually entering data of Form W-2 10 intorespective data entry fields 14 of respective interview screens 12 asshown in FIG. 1B, which illustrates an interview screen 12 with fields14 for data of Boxes 1-12A of Form W-2.

Referring to FIGS. 1C-D, during use of a receipt management or trackingapplication or program such as QUICKRECEIPTS, for example, the receiptmanagement application receives or imports transaction data frommerchants or retailers or data entered by a user or consumer, generatesan interface or receipt summary 20 in which receipts are represented asrespective discrete objects or icons 22, and when these icons 22 areselected, users can view additional item-level details 24 about aparticular purchase or a specific item. Additional item-level data 24displayed may include, merchant name, address and contact information,point of sale identifier, cashier identification, store number,date/time, item identification, price, tax, any discount, total amountpaid, type of tender, reward or membership number, return policy. A linkto a merchant website (e.g., sears.com) can be accessed throughone-dimensional bar-code 26 to allow consumer to access merchant websitefrom within an electronic representation of a receipt.

While financial management systems such as tax preparation applicationsand receipt management applications have greatly simplified preparationof electronic documents such as tax returns and receipt or spendingsummaries, they nevertheless involve substantial time due to navigatingscreens or pages and entering tax and transaction data if notautomatically imported. In order to address these issues, OpticalCharacter Recognition (OCR) has been utilized to try to simplypreparation of electronic documents by reducing the amount of data thatis manually entered. With OCR, an image of data such as Form W-2 data isacquired and analyzed by an OCR algorithm, which then imports recognizeddata into corresponding data entry fields of interview screens. However,there are a number of shortcomings associated with OCR.

For example, using electronic tax returns as an example, OCR may resultin inaccurate importation of tax data into respective data fields due toinconsistencies encountered during image capture such as camera quality,lighting, paper condition, print quality (e.g., light printing,smearing, smudges, etc.). Further complications may arise as a result ofemployers or payroll providers generating Form W-2 or other tax formswith different or inconsistent formats. In these cases, the OCRalgorithm may be configured to detect data presented in W-2 forms of aparticular format and may not be able to identify certain W-2 data,thereby causing the OCR algorithm to import incorrect or possibly importno data.

Consequently, known OCR systems and methods, while providing some degreeof improvement over manual data entry in certain cases, are neverthelesssusceptible to factors that negatively impact the ability to accuratelyread and import data into electronic files, particularly when employersor payroll processors utilize different Form W-2 formats or whenmerchants utilize different receipt formats.

SUMMARY

One embodiment is directed to a receipt that is generated for a purchaseof an item by a consumer from a merchant. The receipt comprisestransaction data generated by a computing device of the merchant (e.g.,data specifically identifying an item, cost, merchant information, etc.)and a two-dimensional machine readable representation of the item-leveltransaction data. Thus, in contrast to other receipts, embodimentsactually encode transaction data as opposed to providing a code thatprovides a link or web address to a merchant website.

A further embodiment is directed to a receipt that consists ofitem-level transaction data generated by a computing device of themerchant, and a two-dimensional machine readable representation of theitem-level transaction data.

Yet another embodiment is directed to a receipt generated for a purchaseof an item by a consumer from a merchant. The receipt comprisesitem-level transaction data generated by a computing device of themerchant and a Quick Response (QR) code representing the item-leveltransaction data. According to embodiments, a first type of item-leveltransaction data is mapped to a first pre-determined segment of the QRcode, a second type of item-level transaction data is mapped to a secondpre-determined segment of the QR code, and a third pre-determinedsegment of the QR code is encoded for verification of the first andsecond types of item-level transaction data (e.g. using a checksum).

Another embodiment is directed to a computer-implemented method forsymbolically representing transaction data generated for a purchase ofan item by a consumer from a merchant. The method comprises encodingtransaction data into a two-dimensional machine readable representationof the transaction data, and generating a receipt comprising thetwo-dimensional machine readable representation.

Yet another embodiment is directed to a computer-implemented method forpreparing a portion of an electronic receipt summary using a symbolicrepresentation of transaction data of a receipt generated for a purchaseof an item by a consumer from a merchant. The method comprises receivingan image of a two-dimensional machine readable representation oftransaction data generated when a consumer purchased an item from amerchant and decoding the two-dimensional machine readablerepresentation to determine the transaction data. The method furthercomprises determining respective fields of the electronic receiptsummary for respective transaction data, and populating respectivefields with respective transaction data.

According to a further embodiment, a method for preparing a portion ofan electronic receipt summary using a symbolic representation oftransaction data comprises acquiring an image of a two-dimensionalmachine readable representation of transaction data using an imagecapture device of a computing device (e.g., an image generated by acamera and downloaded to a computer or a webcam or scanner of acomputer) and populating at least one field of the electronic receiptsummary with transaction data decoded from the two-dimensional machinereadable representation using the computing device.

Yet another embodiment is directed to a method for preparing a portionof an electronic receipt summary using a symbolic representationtax-related data and a mobile communication device and comprisesacquiring an image of a two-dimensional machine readable representationof transaction data using a camera of the mobile communication devicesuch as a Smartphone and populating at least one field of the electronicreceipt summary with transaction data decoded from the two-dimensionalmachine readable representation using the mobile communication device.

Further embodiments are directed to systems for symbolicallyrepresenting transaction or receipt data as a two-dimensional machinereadable code such as a QR code, and decoding such data for use inpreparing or updating an electronic receipt summary. Systems may involvecomputers and/or software programs configured to perform such encoding,decoding and preparation using a computer or mobile communicationdevice. For example, a merchant computer may be configured to performsuch encoding and decoding, a mobile communication device or othercomputing device may be used to acquire an image of the representation,which may be decoded using the mobile communication device and theresulting decoded data is transmitted to a computer hosting a receiptsummary software program, or the representation image can be transmittedfrom the mobile communication device to the host computer, which thendecodes the data and prepares a portion of an electronic receipt summaryof the consumer. Yet other embodiments are directed to computer programproducts comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage mediumembodying one or more instructions executable by a computer to perform aprocess for encoding and/or decoding transaction data, which may be usedto prepare a portion of an electronic receipt summary.

In a single or multiple embodiments, transaction data that is encodedand decoded is item-level transaction data, e.g., Level III data. Thereceipt may also identify an identification of the consumer, e.g., byname, membership or club number, or credit card number, and this datamay also be encoded into the two-dimensional machine readablerepresentation.

In a single or multiple embodiments, the receipt is an electronicreceipt, and an image of the two-dimensional machine readablerepresentation may be acquired when the representation is displayed onthe screen or of a printed version of the representation. Further, thereceipt may be printed and provided to the consumer, who may thensubsequently acquire an image of the representation.

In a single or multiple embodiments, the two-dimensional machinereadable representation comprising a two-dimensional matrix. Accordingto one embodiment, the two-dimensional matrix comprising a QuickResponse (QR) code such that a first pre-determined segment of the QRcode is encoded with a first type of transaction data, and a secondpre-determined segment of the QR code being encoded with a second typeof transaction data. A third segment may be encoded as checksum toverify the first and second segments.

In a single or multiple embodiments, the two-dimensional machinereadable representation is readable utilizing a software program orapplication that executes on a mobile communication device. In a singleor multiple embodiments, after decoding, respective transaction dataassociated with respective fields from the mobile communication deviceto a computer hosting an electronic receipt software program such thatrespective transaction data can be incorporated into respective fieldsof the electronic receipt summary for an identified consumer utilizingthe electronic receipt software program. In another embodiment, theimage of the two-dimensional machine readable representation is notdecoded using the mobile communication device and is instead transmittedfrom the mobile communication device to the computer hosting theelectronic receipt software program, which then decodes therepresentation and incorporates resulting transaction data into theelectronic receipt summary.

In a single or multiple embodiments, decoding the two-dimensionalmachine readable representation comprises parsing the image intoportions or segments, reading respective portions or segments todetermine respective transaction data, which is then included inrespective fields of the electronic receipt summary, e.g., according bymapping decoded data to a particular schema utilized by the electronicreceipt software program.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and additional aspects of embodiments are described infurther detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A illustrates an example of Form W-2 issued to employees, FIG. 1Billustrates an example of an interview screen generated by a taxpreparation program and including fields to be populated with data fromForm W-2, FIG. 1C illustrates how a receipt management programrepresents a receipt as a discrete object, and FIG. 1D shows howadditional item-level data is presented to a user in response toselecting a receipt object;

FIG. 2A is block diagram of a system and how system components areutilized to symbolically represent or encode and decode personal datagenerated by someone other than the person for whom it was generated,and how such data can be incorporated into an electronic file, and FIG.2B illustrates an example of a two-dimensional QR CODE that may beutilized in embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a system constructed according to oneembodiment for use in symbolically representing or encoding and decodingtax data to be included in a tax return;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method for encoding anddecoding tax data and preparing an electronic tax return based at leastin part upon tax data decoded from a two-dimensional machine readablerepresentation of tax data;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method for encoding taxdata and generating a tax form or document including a two-dimensionalmachine readable representation of tax data;

FIG. 6A illustrates a table utilized by embodiments to determine whichsegment of a two-dimensional machine readable representation should beutilized to encode a particular type or category of tax data, and FIG.6B generally illustrates how segments or groups of data elements of atwo-dimensional machine readable representation are utilized forencoding tax data using the table shown in FIG. 6A;

FIG. 7 illustrates how respective tax data is encoded as or transformedinto respective segments of a two-dimensional machine readablerepresentation based at least in part upon mapping and segmentationshown in FIGS. 6A-B;

FIGS. 8A-B illustrate an embodiment of a tax document or form includingalpha-numeric tax data and a two-dimensional machine readablerepresentation of the same tax data, and FIG. 8C illustrates oneembodiment of a tax document or form having an employee identificationand a two-dimensional machine readable representation of tax dataincluding tax data provided elsewhere within the document;

FIGS. 9A-C respectively illustrate use of a mobile communication device,a scanner and a webcam for acquiring an image of a two-dimensionalmachine readable representation to be decoded into tax data according tovarious embodiments;

FIG. 10 illustrates components of a mobile communication deviceconfigured according to embodiments for use in acquiring an image of atwo-dimensional machine readable representation, decoding therepresentation, and preparing at least a portion of an electronic taxreturn;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of one embodiment of a method for decoding atwo-dimensional machine readable representation to determinecorresponding tax data to be included in an electronic tax return;

FIG. 12A a table utilized by embodiments to determine which segments ofa two-dimensional machine readable representation representcorresponding types of tax data or sections of an electronic tax return,FIG. 12B generally illustrates how certain segments are decoded todetermine tax data using the table of FIG. 12A, and FIG. 12C illustratesan example of respective fields of an interview screen generated by atax preparation application populated with decoded data;

FIG. 13 generally illustrates how decoded data and/or an image of amachine readable representation can be transmitted from a computer ormobile communication device to another computer or mobile communicationdevice, which may then be used to decode the representation as necessaryand prepare a portion of an electronic tax return with decoded data;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a system constructed according to anotherembodiment for use in symbolically representing or encoding and decodingtransaction or receipt data generated by a merchant for a purchase of anitem by a consumer and to be included in an electronic receipt summary;

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method for encoding anddecoding transaction or receipt data and preparing an electronic receiptsummary based at least in part upon transaction data decoded from atwo-dimensional machine readable representation of the transaction data;

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method for encodingtransaction or receipt data and generating an electronic receiptincluding a two-dimensional machine readable representation of thetransaction data;

FIG. 17A illustrates a table utilized by embodiments to determine whichsegment of a two-dimensional machine readable representation should beencoded with a particular type or category of transaction data, and FIG.17B generally illustrates how data elements of a two-dimensional machinereadable representation are segmented based at least in part upon thetable shown in FIG. 17A;

FIG. 17A illustrates a table utilized by embodiments to determine whichsegment of a two-dimensional machine readable representation should beutilized to encode a particular type or category of transaction data,and FIG. 17B generally illustrates how segments or groups of dataelements of a two-dimensional machine readable representation areutilized for encoding transaction data using the table shown in FIG.17A;

FIG. 18 illustrates how respective transaction data is encoded as ortransformed into respective segments of a two-dimensional machinereadable representation based at least in part upon mapping andsegmentation shown in FIGS. 17A-B;

FIG. 19 illustrates one embodiment of a receipt including transactiondata and a two-dimensional machine readable representation of the sametransaction data;

FIGS. 20A-E illustrate one embodiment of decoding a two-dimensionalmachine readable representation involving use of a mobile communicationdevice to acquire an image of the representation, decode therepresentation into transaction data, upload decoded data to a computerhosting a financial management system, which populates an electronicreceipt summary with decoded data;

FIG. 21 further illustrates components of a mobile communication deviceconfigured according to embodiments for use in acquiring an image of atwo-dimensional machine readable representation, decoding therepresentation, and preparing at least a portion of an electronicreceipt summary utilizing decoded data;

FIG. 22 is a flow chart of one embodiment of a method for decoding atwo-dimensional machine readable representation to determinecorresponding transaction data to be included in an electronic receiptsummary;

FIG. 23A illustrates a table utilized by embodiments to decode atwo-dimension machine readable representation to determine transactiondata, and FIG. 23B illustrates how respective fields of an electronicreceipt summary generated by a financial management system are populatedwith data decoded from the two-dimensional machine readablerepresentation; and

FIG. 24 is a block diagram of components of a computing apparatus orsystem in which various embodiments may be implemented or that may beutilized to execute embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 2A, certain embodiments relate to systems, methods andcomputer program products for encoding data 210 of or related to aspecific individual or entity 220 (generally, “individual” or “person”)and that is generated by a source 230 other than the individual 220. Thedotted line in FIG. 2A is intended to illustrate that person 220 has arelationship with source 230 and/or owns an image capture device 260.

Embodiments may involve, for example, data 210 of a tax document (e.g.,Form W-2 as shown in FIG. 1A) for a particular employee 220, data 210 ofa receipt generated for particular items purchased by a particularconsumer 220, data 210 of a medical file generated for a particularpatient 220, data 210 of a legal document generated for a particularclient 220. Such personalized or individual-specific data 210 may begenerated by source 230 such as an employer, payroll service, merchant,hospital or law firm. Data 210 generated by source 230 is encoded 240 ortransformed into a two-dimensional representation or code 255 such as adata matrix or Quick Response (QR CODE) (an example of which is shown inFIG. 2B), which is included in a document 250 generated by source 230.Document 250 may be a tax document (e.g., a hybrid form W-2 including QRCODE), a hybrid receipt including QR CODE 255, a hybrid medical recordincluding the QR CODE 255, a hybrid legal paper including QR CODE 255,or other personalized or individual-specific document. Representation orQR CODE 255 is later decoded 270 to determine the data previouslyencoded. For example, decoding 270 may be performed when preparing anelectronic file 295 such as an electronic tax return, electronic receiptsummary, an electronic medical record (e.g., medical history, allergies,etc.) or legal document.

For purposes of decoding 270 QR CODE, an image capture device 260 of amobile communication device or computer is utilized to obtain an image262 of QR CODE 255. Image 262 is decoded 270 by a decoding program,which may be a stand-alone program or part of a financial managementsystem (FMS) such as a tax preparation application executing on themobile communication device or computer. Portions of user file 295 suchas an electronic tax return can be populated 280 with decoded data 210.Embodiments enable preparation of a complete electronic tax return 295by scanning representations such as QR CODEs 255 using, for example aSmartphone, and electronically filing the completed tax return 295 fromthe Smartphone with a tax authority.

In this manner, and in contrast to known systems and methods,embodiments do not rely on or involve OCR and eliminate or mitigateOCR's shortcomings and inconsistencies such as camera quality, lighting,paper condition, print quality (e.g., light printing, smearing, smudges,etc.). Instead, embodiments utilize a two-dimensional code format thatcan be verified as accurate, and the manner in which encoding anddecoding are performed allows different document formats to be utilized,whereas more rigid and limited systems such as OCR may not be programmedto process other document formats. With enhanced data accuracy andreliability, users are able to import decoded data into an electronictax return or other electronic document more easily than with OCR andwith a higher degree of confidence that the data is correct.

Further aspects of how embodiments may be implemented to prepareportions of various types of electronic documents are described withreference to FIGS. 3-23B. Embodiments related to acquiring an image of acode or representation for use in preparing an electronic tax return aredescribed with reference to FIGS. 3-13, and embodiments related toacquiring an image of a code or representation for use in preparing anelectronic receipt summary are described with reference to FIGS. 14-23B.Certain details regarding common system components described withreference to FIGS. 3-13 are not repeated when discussing embodimentswith reference to FIGS. 14-23B, and the same or similar components areidentified with similar numeric identifiers.

Tax Data/Electronic Tax Return

Referring to FIG. 3, a system 300 constructed according to oneembodiment involves a tax document and encoding and decoding tax data310 for purposes of preparing an electronic tax return 395. With furtherreference to FIG. 4, a method for encoding and decoding data for use inpreparing an electronic tax return 395 using system 300 shown in FIG. 3involves, at 402, a source 330 such as an employer utilizing sourcecomputer 335 to generate tax data 310 for an employee.

Source 330 may be an employer or payroll processor such as INTUIT INC.,which manages processes payroll, files and pays employer taxes, andcreates and distributes W-2 forms to employees at the end of the year onbehalf of an employer. For ease of explanation, reference is made tosource or employer 330, and these terms are defined as including theemployer itself or other entities such as a payroll processor that actson behalf of an employer.

According to one embodiment, employer 330 utilizes computer 335 togenerate tax data 310 such as Form W-2 data as shown in FIG. 1A. Taxdata 310 is defined to include numerical and/or financial data (such aswages, taxes, etc.) and other data included in an electronic tax return395 such employee and employer identification (e.g., employee name andaddress, social security number, employer identification and address,etc.) While certain embodiments are described with reference to employer330 generating tax data 310 of Form W-2, it will be understood thatembodiments may involve other sources 330 of different types orcategories of tax data 310 of other tax forms or documents including,but not limited to, 1099-G, 1099-INT, 1099-OID, 1099-MISC, 1099-B,1099-R, 1098-E, 1098-T, 5498 and other forms. Such tax data 310 may begenerated by various sources 330 including, but not limited to afinancial institution (e.g., bank, credit union, etc.) that paidinterest to individual 320 or that holds a mortgage of a homeowner, abrokerage firm (such as AMERITRADE, E-TRADE, SCOTTTRADE, etc.) throughwhich dividends were paid to an individual or that completed purchaseand/or sales of securities held within a brokerage account on behalf ofan individual 320. For ease of explanation and illustration, referenceis made to an employer 330 that generates tax data 310 that is normallyincluded in Form W-2, but embodiments may involve various sources 330 ofdifferent types of tax data 310 for employees 320, holders of interestand dividend paying accounts, holder of a mortgage, etc.

According to embodiments, an encoding program 337 executes on employercomputer 335 and is programmed, configured or operable to encode taxrelated-data 310 generated by employer 330 into a two-dimensionalmachine readable representation 355 of tax data 310 at 404 (as opposedto a one-dimensional or linear code). Thus, tax data 310 is actuallyencoded and symbolically represented as a two-dimensional symbol or code355 such as a data matrix or QR CODE (an example of which is shown inFIG. 2B). For ease of explanation, reference is made to atwo-dimensional machine readable representation or code in the form of aQR CODE 355.

Referring to FIG. 5, encoding tax data 310 into QR CODE 355 involves, at502, encoding program 337 determining or identifying a type of categoryof tax data 310 to be encoded. Types or categories utilized may be thesame types or categories of data utilized with known tax forms such asForm W-2, which specifies categories or types of tax data 310 such as“Wages, tips, other compensation,” “Federal income tax withheld,”“Social security wages,” etc. as shown in FIG. 1A.

With continuing reference to FIG. 5, and with further reference to FIGS.6A-B and 7, at 504, encoding program 337 maps the type or category oftax data 310 to a pre-determined segment 605 of QR CODE 355 using table600 with columns 602 a-b for data category or type and corresponding QRCODE segment 512, or another suitable mapping mechanism. At 506,pre-determined segments 502 are generated according to mapping table 600and represent tax data 310 as generally illustrated in FIG. 7.

For example, a first type of tax data 310 a is encoded as or transformedinto a first pre-determined segment 605 a of QR CODE 355, a second typeof tax data 310 b is encoded as or transformed into a secondpre-determined segment 605 b of QR CODE 355, and so on for othersegments 605 c and other types of tax data 310. At 508, a certainsegment 605 d of QR CODE 355 can be a verification segment that confirmsencoded data is accurate. For example, one or more checksums or hashsums may be generated for one or multiple pre-determined segments 502 cof QR CODE 355 to verify encoded data.

It will be understood that FIGS. 6A-B and 7 are not intended toillustrate the exact segments 502 that are encoded, and that a QR CODE355 may include a partial or complete row or multiple rows of dataelements representing a certain type of tax data 310. Further detailsregarding how two-dimensional matrix codes such as QR CODEs 355 arestructured (e.g. data for version information, format information, dataand error correction segments or keys, and position, alignment andtiming indicators) are not discussed in further detail since they areknown to persons of ordinary skill in the art.

Referring again to FIG. 4, and with continuing reference to FIG. 5, at510, encoding program completes generation of the QR CODE that isencoded with or represents tax data, and at 512, a document includingthe generated QR CODE is printed and/or transmitted and provided toemployee at 408.

Referring to FIGS. 8A-B, according to one embodiment, the result ofencoding program 337 is generation of a tax document or form 350 thatincludes tax data 310 (e.g., data generated by employer and normallyincluded in a Form W-2 and/or other tax form) and, in addition, QR CODE355 representing tax data 310. Thus, in the illustrated embodiment, taxdocument 350 includes tax data 310 in one form (alpha-numeric) and thesame tax data 310 in a different, transformed form of QR CODE 355. Thus,embodiments generate a hybrid form of a currently known W-2 form, andutilize QR CODE 355 to encode the same tax data 310 as opposed to otherknown methods that utilize a QR CODE 355 as a link to a website or otherunrelated data.

Referring to FIG. 8C, according to another embodiment, a tax document350 generated by source 330 with encoding method embodiments includesdata such as an identification of the employee 802, but no numericalfinancial data. Instead, numerical financial data and other tax data areencoded as or transformed into QR CODE 355 as shown in FIG. 9. Thus, inthe illustrated embodiment, the tax document 350 includes employeeidentification 802 and the resulting QR code 355 and other tax data 310is not displayed on document 350 since such data can be protected fromdisclosure until decoded. Thus, FIGS. 8A-C illustrate that a taxdocument 350 generated according to embodiments includes the resultingQR CODE 355 representing tax data 310 and may also include tax data 310itself. In other words, FIGS. 8A-C illustrate that a tax document 350may include, for example, numerical tax data 310 in one or multipleformats.

Referring again to FIGS. 3-4 and with further reference to FIGS. 9A-C,at 410, employee 320 acquires an image 362 of QR CODE 355 using a cameraor other image capture device 360 of a mobile communication device or acomputer. FIG. 9A illustrates an embodiment in which a camera 902 of amobile communication device 900 in the form of a Smartphone is utilizedto acquire image 362 of QR CODE 355. Mobile communication device isdefined to include cellular telephones, Smartphones such as an IPHONE,IPOD TOUCH, ANDROID, BLACKBERRY and other mobile communication devices110 such as a laptop computer, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), acomputing tablet such as an IPAD and other mobile communication device110 capable of wireless or cellular communications. For ease ofexplanation, reference is made generally to mobile communication device110, one example of which is a Smartphone.

Other embodiments may involve acquiring an image 362 of QR CODE 355 indifferent ways, e.g., using a scanner 912 of a computer 910 (as shown inFIG. 9B) or a webcam 922 (as shown in FIG. 9C). Further, employee 320may take a picture 362 of QR COCE 355, and electronically transfer thedigital image 362 from the camera to a computer 910 or mobilecommunication device 900. Further, employee 320 may take a picture 362of QR CODE 355 and scan the picture 362 with scanner 912. Thus, it willbe understood that image 362 can be acquired in different ways usingdifferent types of image capture devices 360. For ease of explanation,reference is made to using a camera 902 of a mobile communication device900 such as a Smartphone or tablet computing device having a camera 902.

Referring to FIG. 10, image 362 acquired using camera 902 of mobilecommunication device 900 such as a Smartphone is provided as an input toa decoding program 367, the output of which is provided to a taxpreparation application 390 that is used to prepare an electronic taxreturn 395. In the illustrated embodiment, the tax preparationapplication 390 executes on the mobile communication device 900, whichmay be utilized to prepare at least a portion of electronic tax return395. Further, while decoding program 367 and tax preparation application390 are shown as separate programs in the illustrated embodiment, inother embodiments, decoding program 367 is a part, program or module oftax preparation application 390.

Thus, referring again to FIG. 4, at 412, QR CODE 355 is decoded todetermine tax data 310 corresponding to pre-determined segments 502 ofQR CODE 355. For this purpose, referring to FIG. 11, at 1102, decodingprogram 367 parses QR CODE 355 of acquired image 362 into pre-determinedsegments 502 (e.g. according to a pre-determined segmentation), and at1104, maps the pre-determined segments 502 to pre-determined fields orportions of electronic tax return 395 as generally illustrated in FIGS.12A-B, e.g., using a table 1200 with columns 1202 a-b mapping segments612 to types of data or locations of fields within an interview screenof tax preparation application 395. At 1106, decoding program 367 readsand validates decoded tax data 310, e.g., based on a checksum or otherverification tool that was encoded when tax data 310 was initiallyencoded. At 1108, decoding program 367 populates respective fields orportions of electronic tax return 395 with respective tax data 310decoded from QR CODE 355, as generally illustrated in FIG. 12C.

Referring again to FIG. 4, if necessary, before fields of the electronictax return 395 are populated with decoded tax data 310, decoding program367 may display decoded tax data 310 to user 320 at 414, who may thenverify that decoded tax data 310 is correct at 416. At 418, electronictax return 395 can then be populated with user-verified tax data 310. Asshown by dashed line in FIG. 3, the image capture, decoding andpopulating tax return may be performed by the same device, e.g., mobilecommunication device 360, but in other embodiments, other devices orcomputers may be involved.

At 420, electronic tax return 395 is eventually completed, eitherexclusively based on tax data 310 decoded from one or more QR CODES 355of one or more tax documents and/or by manual data entry. At 422,completed electronic tax return 395 is printed and mailed by user 320 toa tax authority or filed electronically. For electronic filing,electronic tax return 395 may be transmitted to an intermediateelectronic filing server (not illustrated in FIG. 3) (e.g. a server ofIntuit, Inc.), which formats the electronic tax return 395 as necessaryand transmits the electronic tax return 395 to a tax authority (notillustrated in FIG. 3) such as the Internal Revenue Service, a state taxauthority, or other tax collecting entity.

According to one embodiment, electronic tax return 395 is completedusing only a mobile communication device 900 such as a Smartphone andtax preparation application 390 executing thereon. The completedelectronic tax return 395 is then electronically filed from the mobilecommunication device 900. According to another embodiment, theelectronic tax return 395 is partially completed using mobilecommunication device 900 and partially completed using a computer, andelectronically filed from the computer. For this purpose, as generallyillustrated in FIG. 13, the image 362 of QR CODE 355 can be transmitted,e.g., in an electronic mail message, from mobile communication device900 to a user computer 1300 through a network 1301, and decoding program367 and/or tax preparation application 390 execute on computer 1300 todecode QR CODE 355 and populate electronic tax return 395 with decodedtax data 310. QR code 355 can be transmitted from mobile communicationdevice 900 to one or multiple other computers and/or mobilecommunication devices, e.g., to a computer or other mobile communicationdevice of the employee and/or accountant of the employee 320.

Communications between system components may involve one or morenetworks 1301 (one network is generally illustrated) such as a LocalArea Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), Metropolitan Area Network(MAN), a wireless network, other suitable networks capable oftransmitting data, and a combination of such networks. For ease ofexplanation, reference is made to a network 1301 generally, but variousnetworks, combinations of networks and communication systems, methodsand protocols may be utilized.

Transaction Data/Electronic Receipt Summary

Referring to FIG. 14, a system constructed according to anotherembodiment involves a receipt document and encoding and decoding receiptor transaction data 1410 (generally, “transaction data”) for purposes ofpreparing an electronic receipt summary 1495 utilizing a financialmanagement system 1490, one example of which is a receipt managementsoftware program such as QUICKRECEIPTS, available from Intuit Inc. Itwill be understood that embodiments or aspects thereof may involve or beembodied in other financial management systems and other receiptmanagement software programs, and QUICKRECEIPTS is provided as oneexample of how embodiments may be implemented. With a receipt managementsoftware program 1490, a consumer 1420 purchases one or more items froma merchant or retailer 1430 (generally, “merchant” 1430), and merchant1430 sends to a host such as Intuit Inc. electronic item-level receiptdata, such as Level III data, which is integrated into an electronicreceipt summary 1495, e.g., as described above with reference to FIGS.1C-D.

Referring to FIG. 15, a method for encoding and decoding transactiondata using system 1400 components involves, at 1502, a source such asmerchant 1430 from whom consumer 1420 purchased an item. Merchant 1430may be an on-line or brick-and-mortar or store merchant, both of whichgenerate transaction data 1410 for purchases made by consumer 1420.Transaction data 1410 is generated by a merchant computer or transactionprocessing device such as a Point of Sale (POS) terminal 1435. For easeof explanation, reference is made to source or merchant 1430 and POSterminal 1435. POS terminal 1435 generates item-level transaction data1410 such as merchant name, address, store number, item identification(e.g., model or serial number or other identification code orinformation), purchase price, tax, total, etc. Examples of item-leveltransaction data 1410 are provided in FIG. 1D.

According to embodiments, an encoding program 1437 executes on merchantPOS terminal 1435 and is programmed, configured or operable to encode ortransform transaction data 1410 into a two-dimensional machine readablerepresentation 1455 of the transaction data 1410 at 1504. Thus,transaction data 1410 is actually encoded and symbolically representedas a two-dimensional symbol or code 1455 (as opposed to aone-dimensional or linear code) such as a data matrix or QR CODE, anexample of which is shown in FIG. 2B as discussed above).

Referring to FIG. 16, encoding transaction data 1410 into QR CODE 1455involves encoding program 1437 determining or identifying a type ofcategory of transaction data 1410 to be encoded at 1602. Types orcategories utilized may be the same types or categories of transactiondata utilized by known financial management systems such as QUICKRECEIPTS, QUICKEN and MINT and include, for example, item identification(e.g., by serial or model number), price data, purchase date, etc. asshown in FIG. 1D.

With continuing reference to FIG. 16, and with further reference toFIGS. 17A-B, at 1604, encoding program 1437 maps the type or category oftransaction data 1410 to a pre-determined segment 1712 of QR CODE 1455using table 1700 with columns 1702 a-b for data category or type andcorresponding QR CODE segment 1712, or another suitable mappingmechanism. At 1606, encoding program 1437 generates pre-determinedsegments 1712 according to mapping table 1700 as representingtransaction data 1410 as generally illustrated in FIG. 18.

For example, a first type of transaction data 1410 a is encoded as ortransformed into a first pre-determined segment 1712 a of QR CODE 1455,a second type of transaction data 1410 b is encoded as or transformedinto a second pre-determined segment 1712 b of QR CODE 1455, and so onfor other segments 1705 c and other types of transaction data 1410.Referring again to FIG. 16, at 1608, a certain segment 1712 d of QR CODE1455 can be a verification segment that confirms encoded data iscorrect. For example, one or more checksum or hash sums may be generatedfor one or multiple pre-determined segments 1712 d of QR CODE 1455 toverify encoded data. At 1610, encoding program 1437 completes generationof the QR CODE 1455 that is encoded with or represents transaction data1410.

It will be understood that FIGS. 17A-B and 18 are not intended toillustrate the exact segments 1712 that are encoded, and that a QR CODE1455 may include a partial or complete row or multiple rows of dataelements representing a certain type of transaction data 1410, and asdiscussed above, further details regarding how two-dimensional matrixcodes such as QR CODEs 1455 are structured are not discussed in furtherdetail since they are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art.

Referring again to FIG. 15 and with further reference to FIG. 19, at1508, a receipt document 1450 including the generated QR CODE 1455 isprinted and/or transmitted and provided to consumer 1420. As shown inFIG. 19, according to one embodiment, the result of encoding program1437 is generation of a receipt 1450 that includes transaction data 1410(e.g., item identification, merchant identification, price, tax, etc.)and, in addition, QR CODE 1455 representing transaction data 1410. Thus,in the illustrated embodiment, receipt 1450 includes transaction data1410 in one form (alpha-numeric) and the same transaction data 1410 in adifferent, transformed form of QR CODE 1455. Thus, embodiments generatea hybrid form of a receipt, and utilize QR CODE 1455 to encode the sametransaction data 1410 as opposed to other known methods that utilize aQR CODE 1455 as a link to a website or other unrelated data such as amerchant 1430 website.

According to another embodiment, receipt 1450 generated by merchant 1430with encoding method embodiments includes data such as an identificationof the consumer 1420, but no numerical transaction data, which isinstead encoded as or transformed into QR CODE 1455. Thus, a receipt1450 generated according to embodiments may include both item-leveltransaction data 1410 and a transformed version of that data in the formof QR CODE 1455 or only the resulting QR CODE 1455.

Referring again to FIGS. 14-15, and with further reference to FIGS.20-21, at 1510, consumer 1420 acquires an image 1462 of QR CODE 1455(indicated as “scan” in FIG. 20A) using a camera or other image capturedevice 1460. In the illustrated embodiment, a camera of a mobilecommunication device 2000 such as a Smartphone is utilized. Otherembodiments may involve other image capture devices such as a camera,scanner, and webcam as discussed with reference to FIGS. 9A-C. For easeof explanation, reference is made to a mobile communication device 2000.Image 1462 may be acquired at various locations and times, e.g., whilethe consumer is still at the merchant, at home, while traveling, etc.

According to one embodiment, acquiring image 1462 results in launchingof decoding program 1467, which may be a part of receipt managementprogram that executes locally on mobile communication device, andconsumer is prompted to log into an account managed by a computer of ahost that manages electronic receipt summaries of a plurality ofconsumers. According to another embodiment, consumer launches oraccesses decoding application and/or receipt management program in orderto log into an account.

For example, FIG. 21 illustrates an embodiment in which a decodingprogram and a receipt management program execute on mobile communicationdevice locally. In other embodiments, a user may execute a browser toaccess a website of a host computer (not illustrated in FIG. 21, butdescribed in further detail in U.S. application Ser. No. 12/609,922, thecontents of which were previously incorporated herein by reference,hosting receipt management program and log into an account. Thus, itwill be understood that aspects of methods and system components mayreside on or be executed with mobile communication device, on a computerhosting receipt management program, and both the mobile communicationdevice and host computer such that embodiments that are illustrated areprovided to show how system components function.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 21, image 1462 acquired usingcamera 2002 of mobile communication device 2000 is provided as an inputto a decoding program 1467, and at 1512, QR CODE 1455 is decoded todetermine transaction data 1410 corresponding to pre-determined segments1712 of QR CODE 1455. For this purpose, referring to FIG. 22, at 2202,decoding program 1467 parses QR CODE 1455 of acquired image 1462 intopre-determined segments 1712 (e.g. according to a pre-determinedsegmentation), and at 2204, maps the pre-determined segments 1712 topre-determined fields or portions of an electronic receipt summary 1495as generally illustrated in FIG. 23A. At 2206, decoding program 1467reads and validates decoded transaction data 1410, e.g., based on achecksum or other verification tool that was encoded when transactiondata 1410 was initially encoded. At 2208, decoding program 1467populates respective fields or portions of electronic receipt summary1495 with respective transaction data 1410 decoded from QR CODE 1455, asgenerally illustrated in FIG. 23B.

Referring again to FIG. 15 and with further reference to FIGS. 20A-E, ifnecessary, before fields of the electronic receipt summary 1495 arepopulated with decoded transaction data 1410, decoding program 1467 maydisplay decoded transaction data 1410 to consumer 1420 at 1514(illustrated as “processing” and “previewing” in FIGS. 20B-C). Consumer1420 may then confirm that decoded transaction data 1410 is correct at1516 (illustrated as “uploading” in FIG. 20D). At 1518, electronicreceipt summary 1495 is then populated with consumer-verifiedtransaction data 1410 (illustrated as “stored” in FIG. 20E).

Certain embodiments may involve a decoding program executing on a mobilecommunication device and that decodes an image into transaction data,which is integrated into an electronic receipt summary using a localreceipt management application executing on mobile communication device.In other embodiments, decoding program executes on a mobilecommunication device and decodes image into transaction data, which istransmitted over a network to a computer hosting receipt managementprogram, which then integrates decoded transaction data into anelectronic receipt summary. In a further embodiment, decoding or otherprogram executes on a mobile communication device and transmits theacquired image from mobile communication device through a network to acomputer hosting receipt management program, which then decodes theimage (using a separate decoding program as necessary) and integratesdecoded transaction data into an electronic receipt summary.Accordingly, it will be understood that different system components maydecode QR CODE into transaction data, and different system componentsmay integrated transaction data into an electronic receipt summary.

For example, according to one embodiment, decoding program 1467 executeson mobile communication device 2000 and decodes QR CODE 1455 intotransaction data 1410, which is then transmitted over a network to acomputer hosting receipt management program configured to receiveddecoded data and integrate decoded data into an electronic receiptsummary. Receipt management program may identify consumer and consumer'selectronic receipt summary if the consumer already logged into anaccount and/or using, for example, cellular telephone number, electronicmail address or other consumer identification. Consumer may then accesselectronic receipt summary by accessing host computer via mobilecommunication device or another computer.

According to another embodiment, decoding program 1467 executes onmobile communication device 2000, and image of QR CODE 1455 acquiredusing camera of mobile communication device is transmitted over anetwork to a computer hosting receipt management program configured toreceived decoded data and integrate decoded data into an electronicreceipt summary. Consumer may then access electronic receipt summary byaccessing host computer via mobile communication device or anothercomputer.

FIG. 24 generally illustrates components of a computing device 2400 thatmay be utilized to execute embodiments and that includes a memory 2410,program instructions 2412, a processor or controller 2420 to executeprogram instructions 2412, a network or communications interface 2430,e.g., for communications with a network or interconnect 2440 betweensystem components. The memory 2410 may be or include one or more ofcache, RAM, ROM, SRAM, DRAM, RDRAM, EEPROM and other types of volatileor non-volatile memory capable of storing data. The processor unit 2420may be or include multiple processors, a single threaded processor, amulti-threaded processor, a multi-core processor, or other type ofprocessor capable of processing data. Depending on the particular systemcomponent (e.g., whether the component is a computer or a hand heldmobile communications device), the interconnect 2440 may include asystem bus, LDT, PCI, ISA, or other types of buses, and thecommunications or network interface may, for example, be an Ethernetinterface, a Frame Relay interface, or other interface. The networkinterface 2430 may be configured to enable a system component tocommunicate with other system components across a network which may be awireless or various other networks. It should be noted that one or morecomponents of computing device 2400 may be located remotely and accessedvia a network. Accordingly, the system configuration provided in FIG. 24is provided to generally illustrate how embodiments may be configuredand implemented.

Method embodiments may also be embodied in, or readable from, a computerreadable medium or carrier, e.g., one or more of the fixed and/orremovable data storage data devices and/or data communications devicesconnected to a computer. Carriers may be, for example, magnetic storagemedium, optical storage medium and magneto-optical storage medium.Examples of carriers include, but are not limited to, a floppy diskette,a memory stick or a flash drive, CD-R, CD-RW, CD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, orother carrier now known or later developed capable of storing data. Theprocessor 2420 executes program instructions 2412 within memory 2410and/or embodied on the carrier to implement method embodiments. Further,embodiments may reside and execute on a mobile communication device suchas a cellular telephone or Smartphone.

Although particular embodiments have been shown and described, it shouldbe understood that the above discussion is not intended to limit thescope of these embodiments. While embodiments and variations of the manyaspects of the invention have been disclosed and described herein, suchdisclosure is provided for purposes of explanation and illustrationonly. Thus, various changes and modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the claims.

For example, while certain embodiments are described with respect todecoding on a mobile communication device and preparing a tax return,electronic receipt summary or other electronic document using the samemobile communication device, embodiments may also involve transmittingthe image of the QR CODE and/or decoded data to another device orcomputer, which then performs decoding as necessary and integratesdecoded data into an electronic document such as a tax return, receiptsummary or other electronic document.

Further, while certain embodiments are described with reference toexamples of tax forms utilized by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) ofthe United States, embodiments may be utilized to prepare electronic taxreturns of other levels of a governing body or tax authority such asstate tax returns, and tax documents and tax returns of other countries.

Moreover, while embodiments are described with reference to encoding anddecoding tax and transaction data, embodiments may also involve encodingof other types of data and generation of other types of documents, e.g.,encoding medical or legal records into a QR CODE.

Additionally, while certain embodiments are described with reference toan electronic tax return, receipt summary or other electronic documentof a person or individual, embodiments may also apply to corporateentities such as corporations, partnerships, etc.

Further, embodiments may involve a user taking a photograph of atwo-dimensional code such as a QR CODE and sending the image via e-mailor SMS to a server. For example, when an image is sent to aQUICKRECEIPTS server, the server, after receiving the image, can pingthe user via e-mail or SMS to inform the user that the receipt is readyfor viewing using their computer or Smartphone.

Moreover, where certain system diagrams separately illustrate systemcomponents, it will be understood that such system components may resideand execute on the same device, e.g., on a mobile communication device,which may be used to decode data and prepare an electronic document,decode data and send decoded data to another device or computer thatintegrates decoded data into an electronic document, or acquire an imageof a code and transmit the image to another device or computer thatdecodes the image and integrates decoded data into an electronicdocument.

Where methods described above indicate certain events occurring incertain order, those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit ofthis disclosure would recognize that the ordering may be modified andthat such modifications are in accordance with the variations of theinvention. Additionally, parts of methods may be performed concurrentlyin a parallel process when possible, as well as performed sequentially.

Accordingly, embodiments are intended to exemplify alternatives,modifications, and equivalents that may fall within the scope of theclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for symbolicallyrepresenting transaction data, the method comprising: encoding a firsttype of transaction data generated for a purchase of an item by aconsumer from a merchant into a first pre-determined segment of a QuickResponse (QR) code and a second type of transaction data generated forthe purchase of the item into a second pre-determined segment of the QRcode; encoding verification data into a third pre-determined segment ofthe QR code, wherein when the third pre-determined segment is decoded,the verification data confirms the first and second types of transactiondata; and generating a receipt comprising the QR code.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, at least one type of transactiondata comprising item-level transaction data.
 3. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, further comprising determining an identification ofthe consumer, at least one type of transaction data comprising theidentification comprising at least one identifier selected from thegroup consisting of a name, a membership number and a credit card numberof the consumer.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, thereceipt comprising a printed receipt.
 5. The computer-implemented methodof claim 1, the QR code being readable utilizing a software programexecuting on a mobile communication device.
 6. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein the QR code does not identify a link to awebsite of the merchant.
 7. A computer-implemented method for preparinga portion of an electronic receipt summary using a symbolicrepresentation of transaction data of a receipt, the method comprising:receiving an image of a Quick Response (QR) code representingtransaction data and generated when a consumer purchased an item from amerchant; decoding a first pre-determined segment of the QR code todetermine a first type of transaction data and decoding a secondpre-determined segment of the QR code to determine a second type oftransaction data; determining respective fields of the electronicreceipt summary for respective transaction data; decoding a thirdpre-determined segment of the QR code to determine verification data;confirming the first and second types of transaction data based at leastin part upon the verification data; and populating respective fields ofthe electronic receipt with respective confirmed transaction data. 8.The computer-implemented method of claim 7, the transaction datacomprising item-level transaction data.
 9. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 7, the received image comprising an image generated bycamera of a mobile communication device.
 10. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 9, further comprising: transmitting the respectivetransaction data associated with respective fields from the mobilecommunication device to a computer hosting an electronic receiptsoftware program; determining an identification of the consumer; andincorporating respective transaction data into respective fields of theelectronic receipt summary for the identified consumer utilizing theelectronic receipt software program.
 11. The computer-implemented methodof claim 7, the received image comprising an image generated by a cameraor a scanner.
 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, decodingthe QR code comprising: parsing the image of the QR code into respectivesegments; and reading respective segments to determine respectivetransaction data, wherein respective fields of the electronic receiptsummary are populated with respective determined transaction data. 13.The computer-implemented method of claim 7, determining respectivefields of the electronic receipt summary for respective transaction datacomprising mapping parsed segments to respective fields of theelectronic receipt summary.
 14. The computer-implemented method of claim7, further comprising determining an identification of the consumer, theidentification comprising at least one identifier selected from thegroup consisting of a name, a membership number, a mobile communicationdevice number and a credit card number of the consumer.
 15. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 7, the image comprising an image ofa printed receipt.
 16. The computer-implemented method of claim 7,wherein the QR code does not identify a link to a website of themerchant.
 17. A computer-implemented method for preparing a portion ofan electronic receipt summary using a symbolic representation oftransaction data, the method comprising: receiving an image of a QuickResponse (QR) code acquired by an image capture device of a computingdevice; decoding a first pre-determined segment of the QR code todetermine a first type of transaction data and decoding a secondpre-determined segment of the QR code to determine a second type oftransaction data decoding a third pre-determined segment of the QR codeto determine verification data; confirming the first and second types oftransaction data based at least in part upon the verification data; andpopulating at least one field of the electronic receipt summary withconfirmed transaction data decoded from the QR code using the computingdevice.
 18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, the transactiondata comprising item-level transaction data.
 19. A computer-implementedmethod for preparing a portion of an electronic receipt summary using asymbolic representation of transaction data and a mobile communicationdevice, the method comprising: receiving an image of a Quick Response(QR) code generated when an item was purchased from a merchant andacquired by a camera of the mobile communication device; decoding afirst pre-determined segment of the QR code to determine a first type oftransaction data and decoding a second pre-determined segment of the QRcode to determine a second type of transaction data; decoding a thirdpre-determined segment of the QR code to determine verification data;confirming the first and second types of transaction data based at leastin part upon the verification data; determining respective fields of theelectronic receipt summary for respective transaction data; andpopulating at least one field of the electronic receipt summary withconfirmed transaction data decoded from the QR code with the mobilecommunication device.
 20. The method of claim 19, receiving the imagecomprising receiving an image generated by the camera of the mobilecomputing device comprising a Smartphone.
 21. A receipt generated for apurchase of an item by a consumer from a merchant, the receiptcomprising: transaction data generated by a computing device of themerchant; and a Quick Response (QR) code comprising encoded item-leveltransaction data, wherein a first pre-determined segment of the QR codeis encoded with a first type of transaction data, a secondpre-determined segment of the QR code is encoded with a second type oftransaction data, and a third pre-determined segment of the QR code isencoded with verification data, wherein decoding the thirdpre-determined segment determines verification data that confirmsrespective transaction data of the first type and the second type.
 22. Areceipt generated in response to a purchase of an item by a consumerfrom a merchant, the receipt consisting of: item-level transaction datagenerated by a computing device of the merchant; and a Quick Response(QR) code comprising encoded item-level transaction data, wherein afirst pre-determined segment of the QR code is encoded with a first typeof item-level transaction data, a second pre-determined segment of theQR code is encoded with a second type of transaction data, and a thirdpre-determined segment of the QR code is encoded with verification data,wherein decoding the third pre-determined segment determinesverification data that confirms respective transaction data of the firsttype and the second type.
 23. A system for symbolically representingtransaction data, comprising: a computing device configured to generatetransaction data and comprising instructions which, when executed,determine transaction data to be included in a receipt, encode a firstpre-determined segment of a Quick Response (QR) code with a first typeof transaction data, encode a second pre-determined segment of the QRcode with a second type of transaction data, and encode a thirdpre-determined segment of the QR code with verification data, whereinwhen the third pre-determined segment is decoded, the verification dataconfirms the first and second types of transaction data, and generate areceipt comprising the QR code.
 24. A system for preparing an electronicreceipt summary, comprising: a computing device configured to receive animage of a Quick Response (QR) code comprising encoded transaction datagenerated when a consumer purchased an item from a merchant andcomprising instructions which, when executed, decode a firstpre-determined segment of the QR code to determine a first type oftransaction data and decode a second pre-determined segment of the QRcode to determine a second type of transaction data, determinerespective fields of the electronic receipt summary for respectivetransaction data, decode a third pre-determined segment of the QR codeto determine verification data, confirm the first and second types oftransaction data based at least in part upon the verification data, andpopulate respective fields of the electronic receipt with respectiveconfirmed transaction data.
 25. A system for preparing an electronicreceipt summary, comprising: a computing device configured to receive animage of a Quick Response (QR) code acquired by an image capture deviceof a computing device and generated when a consumer purchased an itemfrom a merchant and comprising instructions which, when executed, decodea first pre-determined segment of the QR code to determine a first typeof transaction data, decode a second pre-determined segment of the QRcode to determine a second type of transaction data, decode a thirdpre-determined segment of the QR code to determine verification data,confirm the first and second types of transaction data based at least inpart upon the verification data, and populate at least one field of theelectronic receipt summary with confirmed transaction data decoded fromthe QR code using the computing device.
 26. A system for preparing anelectronic receipt summary, comprising: a mobile communication deviceconfigured to receive an image of a QR code generated when a consumerpurchased an item from a merchant and comprising instructions which,when executed, decode a first pre-determined segment of the QR code todetermine a first type of transaction data and decoding a secondpre-determined segment of the QR code to determine a second type oftransaction data, decode a third pre-determined segment of the QR codeto determine verification data, confirm the first and second types oftransaction data based at least in part upon the verification data,determine respective fields of the electronic receipt summary forrespective transaction data, and populate at least one field of theelectronic receipt summary with confirmed transaction data decoded fromthe QR code using the mobile communication device.
 27. A computerprogram product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storagemedium embodying one or more instructions executable by a computer toperform a process for symbolically representing receipt or transactiondata, the process comprising encoding a first type of transaction datagenerated for a purchase of an item by a consumer from a merchant into afirst pre-determined segment of a Quick Response (QR) code, encoding asecond type of transaction data generated for a purchase of an item by aconsumer from a merchant into a second pre-determined segment of the QRcode, encoding verification data into a third pre-determined segment ofthe QR code, wherein when the third pre-determined segment is decoded,the verification data confirms the first and second types of transactiondata, and generating a receipt comprising the QR code.
 28. A computerprogram product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storagemedium embodying one or more instructions executable by a computer toperform a process for preparing a portion of an electronic receiptsummary using a symbolic representation of transaction data of areceipt, the process comprising: receiving an image of a Quick Response(QR) code representing transaction data and generated when a consumerpurchased an item from a merchant, decoding a first pre-determinedsegment of the QR code to determine a first type of transaction data anddecoding a second pre-determined segment of the QR code to determine asecond type of transaction data, determining respective fields of theelectronic receipt summary for respective transaction data, decoding athird pre-determined segment of the QR code to determine verificationdata, confirming the first and second types of transaction data based atleast in part upon the verification data, and populating respectivefields with respective confirmed transaction data.